Data, services, and other resources are generally identified with a resource identifier such as a uniform resource locator (URL). For example, resource identifiers are often used to indicate a network location of email messages, alerts, application programs, and the like. Resource identifiers may also include query strings, settings, and/or other data. Consequently, resource identifiers can become rather large, and sometimes too large to include in certain types of data elements. For instance, some messages and web pages are limited in size, so they can be received, stored, and/or displayed on a limited capability device, such as a cell phone. To enable access to the resource, a shortened resource identifier can be used by the limited capability device and mapped to the full resource identifier.
A shortened resource identifier can be created by compressing the full resource identifier. When the shortened resource identifier is received, it is decompressed to determine the full resource identifier. However, the compression and decompression processes can cause loss of data, making the mapping unreliable. Also, the compression may not sufficiently reduce the size below the limits of the message or other data element. Another mapping may comprise a predefined database key that is stored in association with a full resource identifier. If the key is received, a database lookup is performed to find the corresponding resource identifier. However, storing a large number of keys and full resource identifiers may take an unacceptably large amount of storage space and require a large amount of maintenance. For security, the keys and/or the full resource identifiers may also need to be encrypted and decrypted, which adds time and consumes computing resources.